In the food service industry, the prompt availability of high quality hot beverages, predominantly coffee, is a necessity. Since customers may request such hot beverages in sporadic intervals and in varying amounts throughout the day, it has become necessary to have large volumes of fresh beverage available on demand. At the same time, it is desirable to provide beverage dispensing capabilities at a number of locations throughout a restaurant or other location so that servers or other wait staff do not need to return to the brewer to retrieve a fresh beverage.
Thus, manufacturers of coffee brewers have developed satellite (or shuttle) brewing systems. In such systems, the beverage is brewed at a central brewing station, and then transported in separate and portable beverage dispensing containers (commonly referred to as shuttles) to various convenient locations at which the beverage can be dispensed for consumption either by food service personnel or the consumer. For a further discussion of satellite brewing systems, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,993 issued to Van Camp, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,571 issued to Roberts.
In some such satellite brewing systems, to maintain the temperature of the beverage, when the shuttle is at the brewing station, a heating element is used to provide direct heat to the shuttle and the beverage contained therein. Specifically, a heating element often is in direct contact with the internal beverage holding tank (or liner) of the shuttle. However, the use of such a heating element, which is often below the shuttle, often results in inconsistent heating of the beverage, which can adversely affect the quality of the beverage.
Thus, there remains a need for an improved means by which to heat and/or to maintain the temperature of the beverage in the portable beverage dispensing container (or shuttle) when it is at the brewing station.